Local Hotels Expecting A Holiday Boom
By Husin Ismail and Shafiyi Azahari

Bandar Seri Begawan - Hotels in Brunei Darussalam are expecting a boom in occupancy rate with the coming of Christmas and New Year holidays.

Ashadi Ajimain, Orchid Garden Hotel senior sales and marketing executive said that they expect approximately 30-40 per cent in occupancy rates for the New Year celebration.

The hotel has proudly hosted a number of renowned Indonesian and Malaysian artistes as well as some participants of the recent Brunei Marathon. Rooms were also booked by transit travellers staying in Brunei for just one or two days.

"Although most locals will go abroad for the Christmas and New Year celebrations, when we look back at our previous years' records, half of our customers were mostly Australians," he recalls.

Hotels will also be booked for family gatherings and wedding ceremonies in hotels during this time of the year.

Lizah Sulaiman, the sales and administration officer at the D'Anggerek hotel in Berakas, said that "from the previous year, usually our room is fully booked with the majority of them businessmen from India and Singapore". Most of the hotel's frequent customers consist of business customers and transit passengers who are on transit in Brunei awaiting their connecting flight.

However, the hotel is expecting low occupancy rates, as the majority of their rooms are undergoing renovations. The hotel, which started with 30 rooms is now reduced to six rooms due to the renovations. Rooms in the hotel are mostly occupied by lecturers from Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) on a long term basis.

Meanwhile, travel agents in the country have received many flight bookings mostly to nearby region for the year-end holidays with further destinations, such as to London, fewer. Century Travel Centre Sdn Bhd said that they received over 1,000 bookings from customers wishing to go to popular destinations such as Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Singapore. However, the bookings made to Manila are mostly for Philippine citizens working in the country returning home.

They also said that Saigon and Hong Kong were also choice destinations with some opting for London.

"Although there are people going to London, there are also those who prefer to spend their money going to regional destinations with more days in their vacation itinerary," said general manager, Mr Foo. Another travel agency also said that regional cities are also a hit among holiday-goers.

Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Bangkok continue to be popular among the agency's customers as well as China, Perth and Auckland. Anthony Tours and Travel Agency Sdn Bhd said that their customers travel in groups of families as well as friends. Another travel agency, Jasra Harrisons Sdn Bhd said that Kuala Lumpur is their most popular stop which was already fully-booked.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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